[The Editors' Verdict] Why the Samsung Strike Fails to Gain Support

Just as food spoils when a refrigerator loses power, wafers are ruined if semiconductor processes come to a halt. Wafers are the core raw material for semiconductors. The manufacturing of semiconductors begins by engraving tens of billions of circuits onto a palm-sized silicon wafer, and there are critical time windows—golden times—that must be observed between each step of the process. If these windows are missed, the wafer reacts with air and deteriorates. Once damaged, there is no way to restore it.

Semiconductor equipment operates only inside clean rooms where not even a single speck of dust is allowed. If the process stops, this precise environment collapses, and even equipment worth hundreds of billions of won can be damaged. Restarting operations can take several months. This is why semiconductor factories run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without rest.

This line is now at risk of stopping. The Samsung Electronics labor union has announced a general strike for 18 days starting May 21. Their demands are for 15% of operating profit to be paid as bonuses and for the removal of caps on bonuses. The union has stated that if management does not accept these demands, they will bring production lines to a halt. If applied to Samsung Electronics’ operating profit, the requested amount would be equivalent to Seoul’s annual budget.

Samsung Electronics Union Struggle Rally, union members shouting slogans. Photo by Yonhap News

There is a reason why a semiconductor strike is different from strikes in other industries. If an automobile factory stops, car bodies in progress can be preserved as they are. With semiconductors, losses are immediate and irreversible the moment operations cease. The Labor Union Act stipulates that essential maintenance work to prevent raw material deterioration must continue even during a strike—a reflection of this harsh reality that the law itself cannot ignore. Furthermore, major wafer manufacturers have already sold their volumes through 2026, and securing new supplies would take at least four to five years. The union itself has warned that the expected loss is 1 trillion won per day, totaling 18 trillion won over 18 days. This is why experts call it permanent and irrecoverable damage.

Is there sufficient justification to push ahead with this strike? The right to strike is the last resort guaranteed by law for workers to be able to speak on equal footing with employers who monopolize capital, information, and bargaining power. Strikes have changed history because their urgency resonated with the public. However, the Samsung Electronics union is now threatening to halt lines in a core national industry if they do not receive additional bonuses, on top of the already substantial sums they earn beyond their annual salaries. Demanding a larger share while holding production lines hostage is far removed from the original spirit of the labor movement—it is closer to a blatant expression of desire. There is no need to elaborate on how minimum wage workers, employees of suppliers struggling to meet contract prices, or ordinary investors who have placed their retirement funds in Samsung shares might view this scene.

The union’s anxiety and discontent can be understood. The semiconductor industry swings between extreme booms and busts. The sense of urgency that if they do not secure gains now, there may be no chance during the next downturn, and the distrust that the company claims all the benefits in good times while passing on the pain during difficulties, have been building up for a long time. However, the Samsung Electronics union is now an organization with negotiation power, having secured a majority of union members. They have ample means to achieve their demands at the bargaining table. A strike should be the final option only after all other means are exhausted, and that stage has not yet been reached. Moreover, Samsung Electronics’ production lines are not the asset of a single company—they are part of the national economic infrastructure, underpinning millions of shareholders, partner companies, and the foundation of South Korea’s exports. The moment they become a bargaining chip, labor-management conflict becomes an issue that holds the entire nation hostage.

Ultimately, the cost of this struggle will be borne not only by management and shareholders but also by the union members themselves. Samsung Electronics has maintained its global position thanks to decades of trust in delivery timelines and quality. If that trust is shaken, customers will seek alternatives, and the pie to be shared will shrink. In seeking to maximize short-term compensation, they undermine their own foundation. When production stops out of desire for more pay, it is not only the wafers that deteriorate. The future of South Korea’s semiconductor industry and the livelihoods of the very union members working on those lines are also at stake.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.